Bakeware with portion measurements

ABSTRACT

A baking device is adapted to facilitate slicing of a baked item into precisely measured portions. The baking device comprises a conventional baking pan having a horizontal bottom wall and at least one upright peripheral wall, and measurement indicia. Measurement indicia are delineated on inner surfaces of the peripheral wall.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 60/395,319, filed Jul. 12, 2002.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] 1. Field of the Invention

[0003] The present invention relates to bakeware, and specifically, to a baking pan that incorporates measurement indicators.

[0004] 2. Description of Related Art

[0005] Many baking recipes include instructions to cut baked goods into portions of particular measurements. These measurements are suggested to help obtain practical serving portions and to ensure that cutting the baked item yields the number of pieces desired. However, actually measuring segments of the baked item with a ruler or other means before cutting is an inconvenient task and is rarely ever done. As a result, a baked item is rarely cut into uniform portions of the desired dimensions. Although a wide variety of baking pans have been developed and built over the years, none provide a means which would facilitate cutting the baked goods into precisely measured sizes generally suggested in most baking recipes.

[0006] U.S. Pat. No. 3,899,962, issued Aug. 19, 1975 to A. Federico, discloses a baking apparatus comprising a frame and a removable grid element for disposition in the frame. The grid element has guiding slots, generally corresponding to cells defined by the grid, which guide a cutting blade to divide the pastry into uniform shape and dimensions. Such a device is only useful if one desires to cut the baked item into pieces that are the same size as one or more cells on the grid.

[0007] U.S. Pat. No. 5,048,707, issued Sep. 17, 1991 to L. Hallberg, discloses a bread pan having corrugated top, bottom, and side walls. The walls have a generally accordion like shape, which facilitate compression of loaves without external stress fractures. No structures are provided to assist in cutting the bread into pieces of a specific measurement.

[0008] Other patents disclosing baking pans include U.S. Pat. No. 943,093, issued Dec. 14, 1909 to G. Mueller (baking pan adapted for baking a twin loaf of bread or cake); U.S. Pat. No. 1,671,450, issued May 29, 1928 to A. Ross (baking pan with indented side walls to deflect heat through side walls of pan); U.S. Pat. No. 2,229,934, issued Jan. 28, 1941 to G. Peterson (baking pan with extensible wall and bottom whereby food molded or cooked therein may be sliced without removal from container); U.S. Pat. No. 4,052,034, issued Oct. 4, 1977 to J. Marceno (baking pan insert for inserting filling into cupcake); U.S. Pat. No. 4,452,419, issued Jun. 5, 1984 to B. Saleeba (baking pan with modular inserts for forming cake into selected alphanumeric configurations).

[0009] None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0010] The present invention relates to a baking device comprising a conventional baking pan having a horizontal bottom and an upright peripheral wall, and measurement indicators. The measurement indicators are impressed on the inner surfaces of the peripheral wall. The measurement indicators facilitate slicing of the baked item into precisely measured portions.

[0011] Accordingly, it is a principal object of the invention to provide new and improved bakeware which facilitates cutting a baked item into pieces of a desired size.

[0012] It is another object of the invention to provide bakeware with measurement indicators which reflect measurements typically recommended in most baking recipes.

[0013] It is a further object of the invention to provide bakeware which allows a baked item to be cut in a manner that will yield the desired number of pieces.

[0014] It is an object of the invention to provide improved elements and arrangements thereof in an apparatus for the purposes described which is inexpensive, dependable and fully effective in accomplishing its intended purposes.

[0015] These and other objects of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] The sole FIGURE is an environmental, perspective view of an item of bakeware with portion measurements according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0017] A preferred embodiment of an item of bakeware according to the present invention is depicted in the sole drawing FIGURE and is designated generally as 5. The baking device comprises a conventional baking pan 5 having a horizontal bottom wall 25 and an upright peripheral wall 20, and measurement indicia 10 disposed about the periphery of the pan 5. While the baking pan 5 may be of any suitable shape and size, it is preferably square or rectangular in shape.

[0018] The peripheral wall 20 is defined by four upright sidewalls 21 disposed about the periphery of the bottom wall 25, each sidewall having a flange 30 at its top edge. The peripheral wall 20 has an inner surface 22 and an outer surface 23. Measurement indicia 10 are engraved, stamped, embossed, or otherwise impressed into or on the inner surface 22 of the peripheral wall 20 as parallel lines 11 that are equally spaced to reflect measurements of distance in uniform increments. While only parallel lines 11 are shown, dots, arrows, and other suitable shapes may be used to represent the measurement indicia 10. Preferably, the measurement indicia 10 are provided on both the flanges 30 and sidewalls 21. Indicia 10 on the flanges 30 may be engraved, stamped, embossed, or otherwise impressed into or on the flanges 30. Although the measurement indicia 10 may reflect any suitable unit of measurement in any suitable increment, preferably {fraction (1/4)} inch increments are reflected, as is shown. The measurement indicia 10 may consist of lines, dots, hash marks, or other symbol, and may have associated numeric dimension labels 35 in ascending order.

[0019] The bakeware is preferably made from aluminum, but may also be made from glass, ceramics, or other materials known in the cookware art.

[0020] It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the sole embodiment described above, but encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of the following claims. 

I claim:
 1. A baking device, comprising: a) a baking pan having a horizontal bottom wall and an upright peripheral wall disposed about the bottom wall, the peripheral wall having an inner surface facing toward the bottom wall; and b) a plurality of equally spaced measurement indicia disposed on the inner surface of said peripheral wall to reflect measurements of distance in uniform increments; whereby said baking pan and said measurement indicia define an item of bakeware with portion measurements.
 2. The baking device of claim 1, wherein said peripheral wall comprises four upright sidewalls, each said sidewall having a top flange.
 3. The baking device of claim 2, wherein said measurement indicia are defined by vertical, parallel lines on said sidewalls and said flanges.
 4. The baking device of claim 3, wherein said measurement indicia reflect {fraction (1/4)} inch increments.
 5. The baking device of claim 4, wherein said measurement indicia on said flanges further include numerical dimension labels.
 6. The baking device of claim 1, wherein said baking pan is made from aluminum.
 7. The baking device of claim 1, wherein said baking pan is made from glass.
 8. The baking device of claim 1, wherein said baking pan is made from ceramics. 